Jade Legend Story - Jade Cabbage

As we all know, Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty was an expert in collecting jadeite. Among her numerous jade collections, there is one jade legendary object that is most well-known - the jade cabbage. Today we will talk about the special features of this jade.

In fact, the texture of this famous jade cabbage is not very good, and the jade itself even has obvious flaws. So where is this piece of jade legend? Why was she favored by Empress Dowager Cixi?

1. The legend of jade lies in overcoming difficulties. Objectively speaking, it is very difficult to carve jade cabbage. The first is the distribution of white and green colors, which requires the creator to give full play to his wisdom to utilize the two colors and avoid the disadvantage of yellowing of the original stone. Secondly, there are obvious cracks in the jade itself, which is not conducive to the sculptor's carving creation.

2. The legend of jadeite lies in its ingenuity. Faced with such jade material, the craftsmen at that time used ingenious ideas to turn all the shortcomings into plus points for their works - they used the white and green colors of the jade itself to carve out lifelike cabbages; they modified the natural cracks to turn them into naturally overlapping gaps between leaves; even the yellowed areas of the jade itself were turned into the natural color of the stems after frost. The author's ingenious conception can be seen from this.

3. The legendary thing about jade is its vividness. If you look closely, you will find that there are even two insects carved on the leaves of the jade cabbage - a katydid and a leech. The presence of the insects not only makes the cabbage look more vivid and lively, but also implies the beautiful meaning of having many children and good fortune.

4. The legendary part of jadeite lies in its carving. Unlike today's carving technology, the jade carving craftsmanship in ancient times was very complicated and difficult. The carving of this jade cabbage went through 12 processes. The carving is exquisite and vivid, and the details are also very delicate and exquisite.

It has to be said that good craftsmen are the key to creating jade legends. Just like this jade cabbage, it is because of the craftsmen’s ingenious ideas and exquisite carving that the originally somewhat tricky jade raw stone has been turned into the jade legend it is today.

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